Anybody play poker?

[xbostonirishx]

I used to play some what semi professionally for a long time until back in 05. The game just sort of changed on me. I cashed out really big in 05. Now I just play a couple home games here and there, and some small 10 dollar tourneys on Poker stars... This is just for fun, as I do not have the money to put together a serious bank roll

Anybody else play?

 

[raisindot]

Sure do. But not even close to semi-professionally. Just with a group of my friends, and we play very low-limit Hold 'Em. If you lose more than $20 in a night, then you're just a fish.

I would really like to be able to play "for real" on Pokerstars, but the onerous requirements of setting up an overseas bank wire to do it have kept me out of it. I've given up playing the "play money" games because it's devolved to nothing but people raising on every play, since they have nothing at stake.

Jeff in Boston

 

[Dustinl]

I love playing Texas Hold 'Em. I rarely have time to play anymore but when I do it's just a $25 Buy In home game. I tried Party Poker for a while and was able to make $100 last a few months.



DL

 

[RBE17]

Don't play, but like to watch it on TV.

 

[xbostonirishx]

yeah, I just throw a hundred in every once in a while and pllay the small tourneys. I actually won a coupe tourneys and some sit in goes, but lostit all at the cash tables.... LOL....

Nothing like i used to play though. I actually Kept my bills paid for nine months back in 04 when I was out of work. Then in 05 I had a really good summer, and was able to buy a truck, and a travel trailer. I have not had a serious run since then. The reason i stiopped playing was because it took over my life. I lost 5 k in two weeks, and decided it was time to get back to work. Even with the loss of 5 k, I had still made over 40 in a little less than three months.

Now I pay beterrn 2 to 10 bucks to play tourneys just to keep my busy. I'm going to try to win my way into some bigger tourneys though. I actually won my way into the world series of online poker a couple years ago . it was a 500 dollar buy in. I never would have dropped that much cash on a tourney.

Anyways, rasindot, next time I get some extra cash in there I could transfer you some to get into a tourney or somehting.

 

[stobes21]

I used to play with a group of friends doing once a week $10 buy in tourneys. Never did very well, but it was good entertainment. In my opinion looking at any form of gambling as a career or even long term money making proposition is a quick way to end up in a lot of debt. I see it like trying to make a career in pro sports: a very small percentage of people who try make it and make a ton of money at it, but the vast majority end up with nothing but broken dreams and a mountain of debt.

 

[paulboeck]

Yeah, pretty much just hold 'em. I got into it when it was all the rage and never really learned the rules of any of the other forms. I go even cheaper and typically play in the $3.40 sit-n-go tournaments on Poker Stars. I'm still playing on the $50 I deposited about 4 years ago before the gub'ment shut everything down. Every couple of months a co-worker gets together a group and we run a few $10 buy-in tourneys. I played in Vegas a few years ago with mixed results. The first day (at Stardust) I was able to make $100 last for about 2 hours and I walked away with about $102. The next day (at Luxor) my $100 lasted about 30 minutes and I walked away with $0. So yeah, I'm not very good, or very consistent.

 

[xbostonirishx]

i want to play in the sunday million dollar tourney this week. There is a ton of satelites to this game that you can get into with frequent player points. It's called the sunday million, but they guarantee 1.5 mill. the real buy is 215, but im not about to drop that on any one tourneyment.

 

[gurana]

Yeah, pretty much just hold 'em. I got into it when it was all the rage and never really learned the rules of any of the other forms. I go even cheaper and typically play in the $3.40 sit-n-go tournaments on Poker Stars. I'm still playing on the $50 I deposited about 4 years ago before the gub'ment shut everything down. Every couple of months a co-worker gets together a group and we run a few $10 buy-in tourneys. I played in Vegas a few years ago with mixed results. The first day (at Stardust) I was able to make $100 last for about 2 hours and I walked away with about $102. The next day (at Luxor) my $100 lasted about 30 minutes and I walked away with $0. So yeah, I'm not very good, or very consistent.

You know... there's something going on at the Luxor. I was at MGM and basically cleaned up at the Blackjack tables.... blew through about $400 in 45mins when I went to the Luxor. Took me the rest of my stay to make it all back at MGM. Good news is, I made enough to pay for all the crap I charged to my room (restaurants in the building, room service, tickets to Ka...), but not enough to pay for my stay and the flight, which was my goal.

I played poker a little bit... local hold'em tournaments and such, starting a few years back when it got real popular. I tend to gravitate to the $1-$2 no limit tables when at a casino. I got my *** handed to me in Vegas... made a couple bills in Atlantic City. I'm really not that great, and never really learned much about different situations or betting strategies. It was more a long the lines of, "wow... this seems like a strong hand. Let me bet a whole awful lot." There were more than a few hands where afterwards I was told, "wow... you sure are ballsy to stay in holding out for <insert highly unlikely hand to pull> while the guy was obviously sitting on a <insert more likely hand to get>". My response was usually along the lines of, "oh, I hadn't seen that..." So basically, since I tend to rely on luck in any card game, I like to stick to games where there aren't people actively trying to outsmart me (not a terribly difficult task).

 

[jwhite]

I never was a big hold 'em fan I used to play a lot of local 5 card games. Small buy in stuff mostly, but I did fund a few Christmases that way.

 

[raisindot]

In my opinion looking at any form of gambling as a career or even long term money making proposition is a quick way to end up in a lot of debt.

For "gamblers" that is absolutely true, since except for card callers, there's no way a gambler can consistently win at blackjack craps, or other game played against the house.

For poker players, it can be different, since poker is more of a game of skill than pure gambling games like blackjack and craps. A good poker player can consistently wipe out a table of amateurs by getting the proper reads on their opponents and bluffing and betting opportunistically. That's why it's extremely difficult for less skillful players come out ahead in during a long session in poker rooms. The sharks live to scale the fish.

Jeff in Boston

 

[ouch]

Anyone catch Phil Ivey misreading his hand at the WSOP? He looks like a smart guy and he's made a boatload of money, but that was just pathetic.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uQFPPkSl4w[/YOUTUBE]

 

[gurana]

Anyone catch Phil Ivey misreading his hand at the WSOP? He looks like a smart guy and he's made a boatload of money, but that was just pathetic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uQFPPkSl4w

"Phil you misread your hand. HOW COULD YOU MISREAD YOUR HAND!?" Hey, nobody's perfect.

 

[paulboeck]

...So basically, since I tend to rely on luck in any card game...

I'd rather be lucky than good any day

 

[stobes21]

"Phil you misread your hand. HOW COULD YOU MISREAD YOUR HAND!?" Hey, nobody's perfect.

Heh, I liked the announcer guys talking about how he "thinks on a higher level" than they do right before he pulls that bonehead move. Oh well. Such is life.

 

[stobes21]

...For poker players, it can be different, since poker is more of a game of skill than pure gambling games like blackjack and craps. A good poker player can consistently wipe out a table of amateurs by getting the proper reads on their opponents and bluffing and betting opportunistically. That's why it's extremely difficult for less skillful players come out ahead in during a long session in poker rooms. The sharks live to scale the fish...

True enough, but there are a lot of other sharks out there after the fish. A "pro" may be able to sit down at a table of all amateurs and consistently clean up, but at the high value tables in the big casinos you can bet that most tables have more than one shark already there.

And while in the long term skill is key, luck is still a lot of the game, especially in the short term. Even pros can lose many thousands of dollars in one night because of some bad hands. And fish sometimes come out big. How one manages their bankroll and separates out their own money from the roll is just as important as how well they play the game.

 

[ouch]

And while in the long term skill is key, luck is still a lot of the game, especially in the short term. Even pros can lose many thousands of dollars in one night because of some bad hands.

Very true. Just as in blackjack, you make make the right decision and lose, or make the wrong decision and win. I would imagine it's a tough way to make a living. The "big boys" probably do a whole letter better from endorsements and tv contracts- it's a sure thing!

 

[xbostonirishx]

That was funny. I actualy saw hat one on TV.

One time I was in a tourney and there was three of us in the hand, all of us got all in. In the end we tought the other kid won. I got caught up in all the xcitement, and it turned out i had the nut flush. i ended up winning the tourney that night, then also killed it on the cash table.

One of my best hands ever wad that night. I had been crushing it so badly that i said ouut loud that i would play my hand blind. i wasnt even paying attention until after the turn. i had called like an 5 dollar bet, and a five dollar bet. Then there was a 20 dollar bet. I lookd down at the Board, there was a K of hearts, Queen oh hearts, With a of spades, and a four of hearts on the turn..... Well for a 20 dollar bet, i had to look. I look at my two cards, and I was holding KK. hahah i had flopped a full house. I looked and called the bet. I forget what the river was, but the girl bet 20 again. I raised her another 20. she asked me if I had the flush. I said "NO, I said I was holding KK" She didnt believe me and called. Nobody could believe it.

 

[raisindot]

True enough, but there are a lot of other sharks out there after the fish. A "pro" may be able to sit down at a table of all amateurs and consistently clean up, but at the high value tables in the big casinos you can bet that most tables have more than one shark already there.

And while in the long term skill is key, luck is still a lot of the game, especially in the short term. Even pros can lose many thousands of dollars in one night because of some bad hands. And fish sometimes come out big. How one manages their bankroll and separates out their own money from the roll is just as important as how well they play the game.

Oh, exactly. That's often why many shark grinders who aren't top players forget about the high value tables and fleece the tourists in the lower prices games the pros wouldn't even think about. And, yes, a good pro does consider bankroll and, more importantly, thinks long term, not letting a bad night where a couple of fish catch lucky brakes and clean them out defray them from their long term plans.

Luck is a lot more important in low-priced limit games, when it's tough to chase players out of a pot on a raising game. It's far less important in no-limit, when a player with a 7-2 can often chase everyone out with a high bet at an opportune moment. In these games, understanding the opponents' personality is just as or more important than understanding card play statistics.

Jeff in Boston

 

[raisindot]

Very true. Just as in blackjack, you make make the right decision and lose, or make the wrong decision and win. I would imagine it's a tough way to make a living. The "big boys" probably do a whole letter better from endoresements and tv contracts- it's a sure thing!

Here's where I disagree. Blackjack players play cards. Good poker plays play opponents. The "luck" element of a Hold 'Em game only comes if a hand goes post pre-flop. Even then, a player who missed the flop entirely can often chase someone who hit part of it by bluffing. This isn't luck, this is skill. Granted, if everyone stays in the hand through the river luck does become the ultimate deciding factor.

In either case, it's a tough way to make a living. But good poker players can always make a living over the long run, and have backers who bankroll them for tournaments. No one bankrolls a blackjack or craps player.

Jeff in Boston